In addition, the proposed budget includes two toll adjustments to incentivize non-E-ZPass users to enroll and to incentivize the proper use of E-ZPass transponders.

The agency’s proposed $3.6-billion capital budget will target spending more than $750 million higher than 2024 capital spending as the agency completes several major capital projects such as the $2-billion Restoring the George program and the delivery of 72 new PATH railcars, and undertakes preliminary planning and substantial work to kick off its next set of priority projects, such as the multi-phase replacement of the Midtown Bus Terminal while continuing existing operations, the total replacement of the outmoded AirTrain Newark and the implementation of the EWR Vision Plan to completely reimagine Newark Liberty International Airport after the successful opening of its new award-winning Terminal A.

The proposed 2025 capital spending will fund:

• At John F. Kennedy International Airport, major construction progress on the supporting infrastructure for new terminals 1 and 6, as well as the rebuilding of the entire airport roadway network.
• The planning and design work needed to move forward on the EWR Vision Plan to transform Newark Liberty into a 21st century international gateway with a new on-airport mass transit system serving all terminals that will replace the existing AirTrain Newark that opened in the 1990s.
• The project to add pedestrian access from underserved Newark and Elizabeth communities to the Newark Airport Rail Link station, expanding mass transit and airport access for people in those communities seeking faster options to employment at the airport or in New York City via NJ TRANSIT rail services or Amtrak.
• The remaining projects in the multi-year $2-billion Restoring the George program to replace or rehabilitate every major component of the 93-yearold George Washington Bridge, the world’s busiest bridge, including all 592 of its suspension wires. Of the program’s 11 projects, four are complete and six are underway, with a final project undergoing preliminary planning, Port Authority officials noted.
• The start of early work construction for a new worldclass Midtown Bus Terminal, such as the platforms over the Lincoln Tunnel’s Dyer Avenue ramps and the start of work of a new bus staging and storage facility that will serve as the interim main terminal while existing bus terminal is demolished. The bus terminal replacement project will be constructed in phases to allow for the continued operation of the main terminal building and minimal disruptions to service for bus customers.
• Track infrastructure replacement, station rehabilitations, signal and equipment upgrades, and new rail cars through the two-year $430-million PATH Forward program to improve speeds, service and reliability of the PATH commuter rail.
• The full implementation of PATH’s new tap-and-go fare payment system by the end of 2025, including replacements of existing SmartLink/MetroCard readers with new TAPP readers at all PATH stations and the introduction of a new TAPP card that will enable carryovers of existing SmartLink PATH fare discounts.
• Planning on a new express bus service for LaGuardia Airport, as well as the Port Authority’s share of service and reliability improvements to MTA New York City Transit’s free-to-ride Q70 LaGuardia Link Select Bus Service.
• Support of campus-wide, state-of-good-repair needs at the World Trade Center, and upgrades of an existing river water pump station.
• Rebuilding the entire Port Street complex of access roads to Port Newark and the Elizabeth- Port Authority Marine Terminal, which are among the busiest marine facilities within the East Coast’s busiest seaport complex. The current roadway and ramps were built more than 60 years and are being replaced with new roadways designed to modern highway standards and built to accommodate the longer and wider trucks that currently serve the port
• Rehabilitation of two berths at the seaport for the maintenance of critical port infrastructure needed to ensure the continued operation and competitiveness of the East Coast’s busiest seaport and the nation’s second-busiest port for loaded containers.

“As this agency has done for more than 100 years, we are moving forward by planning—and delivering—infrastructure that can withstand the test of time and other changes from constantly evolving political and physical landscapes,” said Port Authority Chairman Kevin O’Toole. “The lessons we have learned from recent challenges, from the economic and lifestyle changes wrought by the pandemic to the ever-increasing and devastating threats from climate change, have shaped our planning both for this agency and for this region. This budget reflects our response to those challenges and how we, as an agency, will move up and on to keep this region moving.”

Unlike similar agencies that operate and maintain critical infrastructure, the Port Authority does not receive any tax revenue from the states of New York or New Jersey. The Port Authority is a self-funded agency with revenue generated in part from third-party fees, rentals, and other charges to businesses operating at its facilities. The agency works aggressively to generate maximal revenues from non-toll and non-fare sources.